Tango Floorcraft refers to a whole cadre of practices, relationships, and awarenesses that we have to be fully cognizant of in order to dance argentine tango as a Lead or as a Follow. Primarily it deals with spacing between the couples and the maintenance of that space at all times. However, that’s a very rudimentary descriptive of the practice. Why ? Because Tango Floorcraft also deals with the appropriate use of vocabulary within the space that one has to work with. “Appropriate” being the operative word. And this is where the Floorcraft takes on its truest meaning. Because that vocabulary must fit not only in the space that one has, but also within the time that one has. Time ? In this case ‘time’ refers to musical time, not just the beat of the music, but also the all-important pauses of the music which allow us to structure what we’re doing and what the end goal will look like. All of this is done while keeping things interesting for both roles, and at the same time keeping the line of dance flowing forwards, all the while keeping things contained within the space that we have to work in, and not hitting anyone, or anything.
Put simply, to do this well, even under the best of conditions, is in fact it’s insanely complex, and difficult, and requires lots and lots of practice to do efficiently, cleanly, clearly and exceptionally well. Below we have compiled a series of videos and links to help understand things for both roles.
A Floorcraft Primer.
Floorcraft 101, Floorcraft 102, Floorcraft 103, Floorcraft 104, Floorcraft 105, Floorcraft 106
The Neurology of Leading – Part 1, The Neurology of Leading – Part 2